child Tag

PARAGUAY, Silvia Cabañas • How does one overcome the departure of a son? That is a question I am frequently asked. I prefer to use the term departure and not death, because for me, my son did not die. He only departed prematurely to meet God, our Father, and our Mother Mary, a conviction that keeps me strong and standing. Most of all, it is what motivates me to struggle against my own human weakness, and for me to also make the effort so the moment that God decides thatRead More

CHRISTMAS WITH POPE FRANCIS • At the Mass Pope Francis presided at 21:30 Roman time in St. Peter’s Basilica, he explained the real meaning of Christmas: “If we want to celebrate Christmas authentically, we need to contemplate this sign: the frail simplicity of a tiny newborn child, the meekness with which he is placed in a manger, the tender affection with which he is wrapped in his swaddling clothes. That is where God is.” “The newborn Child challenges us. He calls us to leave behind fleeting illusions and to turnRead More

Interview with Manuela Baumgartner, winner of the “2016 Prize of Austria’s Religious Communities” award. She is paediatric consultant for children and adolescents, and member of the international leadership of the Schoenstatt Family Federation • It almost got lost in the Christmas rush, yet this news is really Christmassy. For the third time the Austrian communities for men and women religious have awarded the “Prize of Austria’s Religious Communities” for “achievements at the interface between religious communities and society”. During the Day for religious communities in the Cardinal Koenig House inRead More

PARAGUAY, Maria Fischer • “For me, Dequení is a blessing. Thanks for making it possible for me to be here.” Every spring, the children from Dequení usually greet supporters with messages like that of 9-year-old Sofia, inviting them to be joyful and for rebirth. This time, they surprised them during training at the Central House in Fernando de la Mora. Dequení is a blessing for thousands of Paraguayan children, children who come from families of limited resources. Children forced to drop out of school, or those who never see theRead More

FRANCIS IN ROME • In this Wednesday’s general audience, Pope Francis asked forgiveness for the recent “scandals” in Rome and the Vatican and highlighted the value of bringing a child to life. “Before beginning the catechesis, on behalf of the Church, to ask for your forgiveness for the scandals that have happened in recent times both in Rome and in the Vatican. I ask your forgiveness,” the Pontiff stated during the general audience in St. Peter’s Square. The Pope dedicated his catechesis to a reflection on the “promises we makeRead More

CHILE, edited by schoenstatt.org • When one speaks about Schoenstatt’s social projection, “María Ayuda” [“Mary Helps”] immediately comes to mind. It is one of the first, if not the first Schoenstatt project that translated Fr. Kentenich’s teaching into social content, “one of the least known aspects of his enormous personality” (Carlos Ferré, in “The social saint”, Editorial Patris Argentina, 2012). It is the social commitment that Schoenstatters have towards the neediest, this time abandoned children and victims of domestic violence and abuse in Chile. Today “María Ayuda” is not onlyRead More

PARAGUAY, on the occasion of Dequeni’s 30 years by Carmen Cosp • Ricardo Franco, one of Dequeni’s founding youths, told me excitedly that several weeks ago Marcial had been eagerly looking for him. To do this, he went to Caacupé for Sunday Mass. He recalled that pa’i [Father] Claudio Giménez had given him First Communion, and surely he could give him some information. After Mass, he approached the bishop and told him: “I have been looking for these people for twenty-five years. Where can I find Ricardo Franco, Carmen Ruiz,Read More

About schoenstatt.org

Our mission is to serve the life of the International Schoenstatt family and the Church by promoting bonds of solidarity - covenant culture - and offering this service as a testimony - culture of encounter.

In all our actions, we daily hear the echoes of the words given to us by Pope Francis during the audience on 25 October 2014, "a culture of encounter is a covenant culture that creates solidarity."

About Schoenstatt

Schoenstatt is an ecclesial Movement, where everyone, each according to his individual vocation and united in covenant, serves the Church and its mission and the world God has entrusted to us.

The core of Schoenstatt's foundation is the covenant of love with Mary, the Mother of God.

This covenant of love generates culture and covenant culture is the unique expression of our way of life and work, our attachment to God, to people, to nature and culture, to the Church and the world, which always departs from the covenant of love.

Schoenstatt's commitment to this covenant culture inspires it to go out from the shrines to the existential peripheries to "sanctuarize" the world, as Pope Francis says.